MACCABI Tel Aviv centre Sofoklis Schortsanitis — an absolute man mountain at 2.08m and 159kg — launched himself into the stands overnight and attacked a fan who allegedly threatened to rape his daughter.

Welcome to the Israeli Basketball Super League, the most feral sporting competition in the world.

The star player, dubbed “Baby Shaq”, was also accused by the opponent, Hapoel Tel Aviv, of trampling security personnel, fans and small children during his rampage.

A child is escorted from the court amid the chaos following a Maccabi Tel Aviv player’s aSource:YouTube

Maccabi insisted he didn’t swing at or hit anyone.

“This is a load of lies,” Hapoel responded in a statement.

“But what can you expect from a club whose captain calls players Nazis and wish them brain cancer.”

In 2012, Maccabi’s captain Guy Pnini insulted Hapoel player Jonathan Skjoldebrand — a Swedish-Israeli — referring to him as a “German Nazi”.

Pnini was stripped of his captaincy, suspended, fined and ordered to do 20 hours of community service.

“Baby Shaq” Sofoklis Schortsanitis.Source:AP

The league was also embroiled in controversy just last month when a local mayor, Moti Sasson, said he would prefer to see Israeli players in the teams than “kushis” — a derogatory Hebrew word used to identify Africans.

He apologised immediately.

As for “Baby Shaq” and his plight, Hapoel is demanding he be banned for the rest of the season, but he is reportedly more likely to miss just five games.